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Locals donate blankets, toys to terminally ill kids

Posted at 9:47 PM, Nov 28, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-28 22:36:55-05

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Southwest Florida woman says she’s grateful for her grandson’s life.

She spent her Thanksgiving crocheting blankets for local kids who are battling cancer in honor of her loved one.

Marlene Medar says she hopes to get this next round of blankets to kids in chemo just in time for Christmas. She says it is her way of giving back after her grandson beat cancer.

Medar shared her reaction when she learned her grandson Kyle was diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer in 2009, but now he’s her superhero.

Once Kyle kicked cancer, he wanted to help other kids still battling the disease.

He started by donated blankets to keep them warm during chemotherapy, which turned into nearly eight hundred blankets over the last ten years. Now she spends this Thanksgiving giving back.

The giving doesn’t stop there. Every year she gets with the local united automobile workers union to collect toys and donations for terminally-ill kids.

Jim Getts and his wife Diana, help collect donations. Jim says it’s a glimpse of hope for kids and their families during a dark time.

They are giving those donations to the kids at Golisano Children’s Hospital on December 10th.

To learn more about how you can donate, you can reach out to the Southwest Florida Retired United Auto Workers (UAW) Council at 239-936-6715 or click here.